My formula for Living

My formula for Living

A couple of years back, after a black belt test, a young man who was one of the graduates approached me and asked me if I had any advice for him, any "formula for living", as he referred to it based on my life experience ( meaning he thought I was old so I must know something). To tell you the truth, he caught me a bit off guard. I wasn"t really prepared for the question, so I sort of gave him a few random ideas and some half-baked thoughts. Although he seemed to appreciate it, I wasn"t happy with my answer and it got me thinking that we probably all should have some kind of formula for living, shouldn"t we?
After putting a good deal of thought into this young man"s question, here is what I wish I would"ve told him:
1. Take great care of yourself.
Eat right, exercise, get plenty of rest and find healthy ways to de-stress. That is the way we can be of most value to the people in our life. The world needs us at our best.
2. Treat people right.
Value your relationships. It is always better to have friends than enemies.
3. Don"t be afraid to chase your dreams.
Every worthwhile accomplishment begins as a seed of thought.
4. Be prepared to work hard.
Anything worth having is worth working for and rarely ( at least in my experience) do worthy things come easy.
5. Don"t give up.
There WILL be roadblocks. When you get knocked down. Get back up.....even when you don"t feel like it......especially when you don"t feel like it.
6. Enjoy the process.
Life is too short not to have fun. If this is hard for you to do, Nurturing an "attitude of gratitude" is a great place to start.
I wish I could tell you that I always follow these six steps and never stray, but I also wish I could tell you that I climbed Mount Everest barefoot. I will, however, tell you that I am sincerely striving to follow these rules to the best of my ability. How about you? What are your rules for living?